When Chad Huffman got to his locker after yesterday’s game, the baseball was waiting for him. It was in a clear case on the top shelf, and the inscription was already written in ink. Three hours earlier, Huffman had hit that very same baseball to the right side of the Yankee Stadium infield. It had been thrown to first base where Geoff Blum caught it an instant after Huffman stepped on the bag for his first major league hit.

“I looked up on the jumbotron and saw my family jumping up and down,” Huffman said. “It was a great feeling… I’m going to give (the ball) to my mom so I don’t lose it.”

Two Yankees got their first major league hit last season. Ramiro Pena did it in his first at-bat. Francisco Cervelli did it in his eighth, having gone hitless in five at-bats the year before. This season, three Yankees have picked up their first big league hit.

Greg GolsonMay 12
In his eighth major league at-bat — his first with the Yankees — Golson got a clean single to center field. It was the first hit of a five-run inning in Detroit. Golson went hitless in six at-bats with the Phillies in 2008 and struck out in his only at-bat with Texas in 2009.

Kevin RussoMay 21
In his third major league at-bat — his first major league start — Russo singled in the third inning against the Mets. Four innings later, his second major league hit would be a game-winning two-run double.

Chad HuffmanJune 13
In his first major league at-bat — his first day on a major league roster — Huffman beat out an infield single. “I was trying to calm myself down,” he said. “Luckily I battled back with two strikes. I kind of got out in front of it and got lucky a little bit, but that’s part of it.”

Here’s Huffman talking about what must be a surreal moment in the life of a baseball player.

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